The makers of Subbuteo, the "flick-to-kick" table football game, have decided not to axe it after all.

Hasbro said last week it would no longer make the game after competition from computer games hit sales.

But the decision sparked a wave of support and nostalgia for the game, with hundreds of e-mails of subbuteo memories sent to BBC News Online.

Mike McCullogh, from Hasbro UK, said the support had led to the reprieve.

"We are taking Subbuteo into extra time and demonstrating that Hasbro listens to what our customers are telling us," he said.

A favourite in more than 50 countries since its launch in 1947, Subbuteo's heyday was in the 1960s and 1970s.

During the those years it frequently sold more than 300,000 sets annually worldwide, with top level games televised.

Promotion

The reprieve will see Toys R Us teaming up with Hasbro to promote the game, with the full range in all its 63 stores during 2000.

Hasbro says it will continue to run Premier League and Manchester United editions together with top Premier League and international teams.

All eyes will be on its sales this year - bound to be helped by the current burst of publicity - to see whether the game will have a future.

Last year traditional toys remained just on top, with �1.7bn worth sold compared with �1.4bn worth of computer games.

But the sale of computer goods is predicted to double in the next two years.